I will agree, that sort of sentiment is always silly in an MMO. I deeply care for GW2, I do not like the balance changes - will it kill it? Hell nah. I just want to be able to branch out from certain specs/classes without feeling like I'm gimping myself. Technically I can, but it doesn't feel right personally.
Edit in for an example:
I play support mech, but I prefer support scrapper. Firebrand does everything scrapper does but better. Quite a few strikes I've been in people would either want me to be firebrand or leave if they already have alacrity.